I think Cody putting in his own stipulation against himself turned some people away. It was a weird stipulation. MJF was never really on Cody's side, it never convinced many, and then throwing in the towel made no sense as no one was convinced he was his manager. AEW wants to cater to the fans of the Attitude Era, or that style but they are misdirected in the way to do it.
Scorpio Sky suddenly propelled to a championship match because he pinned Jericho in a tag-team match? Is that how a proper win/loss record works? seems a little confusing, rushed and off-putting which is why they probably lost viewers last week.
Putting the AEW Championship title on the line on live television is a great idea at first, yet it was met by the wrong challenger at the wrong time. You have to realize that to the outside viewer, this seemed like a rushed attempt and tokenism.
They have great talent, decent booking overall, but their direction and storylines (creative) needs major improvements.
AEW wants to cater to A.E fans, style, but they have to realize that style was also about storylines, heavyweights, and younger talent.
There needs to be at least 2 new titles and actual weight classes in AEW....I am referring to a Heavyweight division with legitimate Heavyweights, a National Heavyweight Championship which would be the solid # 2 title, and ready to be the face of the company in case of injury or incapacity to the AEW Champion. They would also need a lighter version of the Hardcore title since many of us in the Attitude Era liked that as well, but obviously not call it the Hardcore nor Extreme title, you blend it in with the light heavyweights in which this title should be called the Bruiserweight Champion, Brawlerweight Champion, or Broadcast Champion. Obviously this division is meant for the light heavyweights/cruiserweights with potential to be promoted to Heavyweight division, or main event picture. AEW World Champion is not defined by a weight, and that is great because it could benefit 2 new classes. At one point in the near future they might need to introduce a Women's tag-team title.
Reality is they need a couple of new titles, a couple of legit weight divisions, a couple of diverse characters who can be legitimate contenders, and 2-3 proper creative writers and bookers of which one will be CCO.
As much as AEW Dynamite put on a great show last Wednesday, to the outside viewer it appeared that the AEW Championship match seemed rushed in terms of storylines and tokenism, and that is not how to properly build an audience. AEW needs an actual CCO (Chief Creative Officer). A CCO oversees Creative, Branding, Marketing, and Media. They need to get rid of these EVP tags as they don't have the actual experience to lead a startup company with a multi-million dollar budget, and it makes it seem that this isn't a full-time job even though they are very talented in the ring. New audience viewers aren't convinced that 4 EVPs in a start-up company actually have legit business experience to lead and cater to sponsors, those tags seem frivolous.
It is not the beginning of the end, mistakes happen in every start-up...These are lessons to improve, and properly build.
